Human Nature
by partofthecrowd
Summary: "As cliché and overrated as it sounds, you don't understand the true meaning of life until yours completely changes, for the better or for the worse. Take my life for example."/Join Austin and Ally through their not so normal journey as they learn a little something about human nature. Rated T for very minor language and possible suggestive themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey buds! So…I decided to write a story. I don't really know how this idea came to be. I've written a story for this fandom before but I only wrote a chapter and I never wrote again. Mostly because it sucked and was super cliché. But I like this idea a lot more and I don't think it sucks as much. So read, comment, and let me know if I should continue.**

You know humans are really idiotic. It's pretty sad watching them not knowing how to fully process the scenarios that unravel in front of them. I mean they know what's going on in most cases. They can laugh if they experience joy or they can empathize if they're confronted with sadness. But they don't know how to take what's given to them and use it in a way that could potentially help them. Human brains only access the surface.

Take a tragic scene for instance. A teenager makes some careless mistakes, goes to a party, gets drunk, decides to drive home…you know where this is going. He or she gets in a car accident and unfortunately doesn't make it. We hear the story on the news and automatically think _"Aw, how unfortunate…but that'll never happen to me."_

Oh, humanity. How you never fail to amuse me. The truth is, the people who experienced that trauma never thought it would happen to them either. So this train of thought often leads to recklessness and sweeping paranoia under the rug. It's human nature. However, just because I'm criticizing you about this does _not_ mean I'm not guilty of the exact same thing.

Every single breathing soul on planet earth is currently experiencing life. Whether they're jubilant or suffering, old or young, rich or poor, hungry or satisfied, in love or detached they're all going through the same damn thing. Life.

I once thought life was beautiful and serene and full of love. Of course I wasn't one of those naïve girls frolicking in a prairie on a Sunday afternoon pondering over the joys of life. But I did think that life would grant you with happiness if you deserved it and worked for it.

I was wrong.

As cliché and overrated as it sounds, you don't understand the true meaning of life until yours completely changes, for the better or for the worse. Take my life for example. My story is certainly not one you would hear every day. It starts off like any other generic story. It ends that way too. But the journey was definitely not what you would consider the norm.

My name is Ally Dawson. See? Even my name is generic. I come from a decently sized suburb in Maryland. I've lived a pretty privileged life with happily married parents, a roof over my head, food on my table, a good amount of friends…you get the gist. Even being an only child never bothered me. My cousin, Beth, lived a couple blocks down from me as we were growing up and was practically my twin sister, looks and all. My parents expected quite a bit for me considering I was the only child they could force their hopes and dreams on to. It never bothered me. I was an extremely hard worker and earned a spot as co-valedictorian with Beth. I told you we were practically the same person.

Here's where most people go wrong. It's a major belief that high school is one of the worst experiences of your life but after that things usually smooth over a bit. Nope. Not for everybody at least. I had a fantastic life throughout my childhood, high school…even puberty wasn't that awful.

My life completely flipped the moment I stepped out of college. I went to Yale for grad school, got a degree in law, and started dating an amazing guy, life was good to me. At first. I had just started to get settled into a permanent position. I had just gotten accepted as a lawyer at the _Avery & Dale _law firm. I had moved into an apartment a few hours away from my parent's house and lived close to my boyfriend. I felt great and free and successful and accomplished.

But life doesn't seem to like it when things are going too well.

So naturally one thing went wrong first. Unfortunately for me it was a very major change in my life, thus affecting everything else.

I can try to justify myself. I can tell you I don't know how it happened. But I won't waste your time nor will I waste my breath. I know exactly what happened. I know how it happened. I know when it happened. I know everything about how it happened. If something significant like that just throws itself at you, you'll remember every detail.

I think you'll need a bit of a backstory for this though. Excuse my intensive rambling and psychology lecture. It's a habit. Let's go in to a bit more detail shall we?

After graduating high school I got accepted into Duke with Beth. We spent an amazing four years there. I stepped out of my comfort zone a lot more than I usually did, broke out of my shell, learned about life outside of academics, but still got great grades. I soon decided that I wanted to pursue a career in law but decided to take a little break after I graduated from Duke and take a year off to apply to law schools and have some fun. After gaining so much freedom at college I took the next step and toured Europe all summer. Of course Beth came with me. But my magical summer soon ended.

Since Beth and I wanted different things we didn't see much of each other that entire year. She went off to California to start off a career as a journalist. I, however, stayed put in Maryland. Although we did talk every day and were still as close as ever, things were definitely not going to be the same. I applied to several law schools and fortunately Yale accepted me.

For the first time in my entire life Beth wasn't there for one of my biggest milestones. Well, she was kind of there. We were Face Timing when I stepped into my dorm for the first time. But still, it isn't the same.

"Ally, come on."

"Don't rush me! This is hard!" I whined.

"Since when is opening a door hard?" Came the sarcastic yet slightly garbled voice of my smirking cousin.

"You're here to encourage me, not be snarky," I huffed. Beth and I were currently Face Timing. I was about two inches away from opening the door to my dorm room and to say I was nervous was an extreme understatement. Sure, I was living my dream. It doesn't mean I can't be nervous. This was Yale Law School. It definitely wasn't going to be an easy four years.

"Alls, just breathe," my cousins voice dragging me out of my paranoia. "I'm going to give you some real simple advice. PUT YOUR HAND ON THE DAMN DOOR AND TWIST!"

"Shhhh! There are other people in this building!" I yelled at my phone screen in annoyance. Suddenly my dorm room flew open and revealed a short Latina. She certainly did not look happy.

Oops.

"Hey, what's with all the commotion?! Can I not nap in-" she cut herself short. "Wait, are you Ally?"

I looked at her in surprise for a moment. "Uhh yeah, I am. S-Sorry for all the noise. I didn't mean to w-wake you," I stuttered, embarrassed. "Are you Trish? My roommate?"

Her demeanor instantly shifted. "Yes! I'm Trish de la Rosa. Come in." I gave her a thankful smile and walked in. I took a quick glance at the room and my anxiety vanished. The walls were a slight tan shade with two wooden beds pushed against the far end of the room. Half of the room was covered in posters and pictures which I assumed belonged to Trish.

"I hope you don't mind…I checked in earlier this morning and decided to unpack," came Trish's voice.

I smiled reassuringly. "Not at all. It looks great." Trish smiled back and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a voice that I had forgotten, albeit only for a few seconds.

"Let me see Ally! Show me the dorm." I looked down at my phone, laughed at my cousin and showed her the span of the room. "Whoa, this place is awesome. So much nicer than what I would've expected.

"Um, Ally?" I glanced over at Trish's puzzled look. "Mind telling me why you're talking to a phone?"

"Oh, sorry. This is my cousin Beth." I showed her my screen.

"Hi Trish! It's nice to meet you!"

Trish laughed and waved at her. "It's nice to meet you too. If you don't mind me asking…why exactly are the two of you Face Timing now?"

"Ally here decided to panic right before she had to open the door and she needed 'moral support," Beth snickered causing Trish to chuckle as well.

I rolled my eyes. "I did not panic. I was just a teeny bit nervous. This is a big deal you know."

My cousin laughed at me lightheartedly. "I miss you Alls." I gave her a sad smile. "But I do have to go. Good luck and text me tonight!"

I tucked my phone away into my pocket and looked over at Trish. "Sorry about that. She's a bit crazy."

"Nah, she seems awesome," dismissingly waving her hand. She sat down on her bad as I began to dig through my suitcase. "So where are you from?"

"I'm from Clarksburg, Maryland. How about you?"

"Miami, Florida. Land of the palm trees."

I made a face. "I never liked the beach."

Trish gawked at me. "Who doesn't like the beach?!"

"Don't get me wrong. It's beautiful and all and I know Miami is a great city. I was just never fond of going to the beach."

"Oh Ally. You've missed out on one of the greatest joys of life."

I snorted. "Sand flying everywhere, sunburns, salty water shooting up your nose. No thanks."

"That's it. This spring break I'm taking you to the beach and you _will_ love it."

I laughed. "Good luck with that." As Trish and I talked more I got to learn more about her. She lived in Miami her entire life and planned to go back after graduation. She was majoring in Criminal Studies to start a career as a private investigator. One of the main reasons she chose Yale was because her two best friends also got accepted. Apparently the three were joined at the hip ever since they were little…pretty much like me and Beth.

That's how I met Trish. We soon became great friends and while I did miss Beth, my fear of being lonely at school never came true. Of course there are two other really important people I have to tell you about.

I stepped into the dining hall at 6:30, grabbed some food, and began to look for Trish. "Ally! Over here!" I looked behind me and saw my loud roommate waving me over. I sighed, relieved, I wouldn't have to sit alone and walked towards her. As I approached the table I realized that she wasn't sitting alone. A redhead was sitting next to her babbling away to a blonde across from them. "Ally, this is my friend Dez," she pointed to the redhead "and this is Austin," she pointed to the blonde.

The two smiled at me as Austin pulled out the chair next to him gesturing for me to sit down. "It's nice to meet you," I said shyly.

Now, I could ramble on and on about how dinner went, what we talked about, how I hit it off with the three of them. But I'm not. This is basically how it went down. The four of us chatted. I learned that Dez was majoring in Psychology and Austin in Business and Economics. Dez was probably one of the craziest people I had ever met but also one of the sweetest. He was a bit scatter brain but in the end, he was a genius and was extremely passionate about his dream of helping people by becoming a psychologist. Austin on the other hand was a bit more laid back. Surprisingly his biggest drive in life was music. But he didn't just want to play and get famous…he wanted to help other people realize their dream of music. So his plans after college included opening up a long chain of music stores and his own Performing Arts school.

Yes, Austin was the guy I dated in college. He was the guy I fell in love with probably a week into our friendship. He was the guy I dated for five years. He was the guy who made far away feel like home. He was the guy I left because I was a coward.

 **It's a bit confusing now. I promise I'll explain more in the next chapter. I really don't want to be one of those authors who waits until the very end to reveal the biggest part of the story. I hope you enjoyed reading this! Until next time my friends.**

 **Feedback is always great**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everybody! I know that this is like 5 months late but I have really tried to keep up with my writing. It's just junior year and stress and so much going on. I'm sorry to like the 6 of you have actually read the first chapter haha.**

 **As a side note, everything that's italicized is a flashback and everything that isn't is the present. I didn't do that in the first chapter so that was one of the reasons that it may have seemed a bit confusing.**

 **And as a warning this chapter has mild mature content. It's nothing explicit but it is somewhat suggestive so if you don't feel comfortable reading it, feel free to skip over it.**

 **I really hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Austin and Ally.**

I think it's safe to say that my family is a bit conservative. You know the traditional steps your life _has_ to take in order to be socially "acceptable." Perfect in school: check. Scarce dating: check. A job with good money: check. No premarital sex:…

Yeah, Austin and I had sex. The first time was senior year of college and to say it was the most amazing life of my night is not only cliché but also a tremendous understatement. It wasn't how they usually portray it in those sappy romantic comedies. It was extremely awkward at first-at least for me it was. As for him, it wasn't his first time so he was a lot more confident. But still. It was obvious he was scared he was going to hurt me.

 _It was date night. Austin decided to surprise me and didn't tell me where we were going. All he said was dress nice but casual. So I went with my typical look. Skinny jeans, a floral tank top, and wedges with curled hair. I had just finished checking my hair in the mirror when the doorbell rang…two short bells and one long one. I smiled to myself. It was kinda our thing. It was a way to let the other know that it was one of us ringing the door and not some (according to Austin) rapist. It started off as a joke but the two of us became so accustomed to it that it eventually became the norm._

 _I opened the door to the apartment I had been sharing with Trish to reveal an extremely sexy looking Austin. He was dressed in his signature black skinny jeans, high tops, a black V-neck, and a red leather jacket. His hair was done up in its usual messy way. I think I drooled a little._

" _Hey beautiful," he said grabbing me around the waist kissing me._

 _I pulled away and smirked. "Hey yourself handsome." He smiled before gently kissing my forehead._

Ugh, I know we were sappy, and gross, and clingy, and…and…I miss him so much.

" _Ready?"_

 _I nodded and shut the door behind me as we left. As we approached his car he held the door open for me. I smiled in slid in._

 _Austin walked around and sat in the driver's seat. "Hey Aus?"_

" _Yes, Alls?"_

" _Mind telling me where we're going?"_

" _If I did it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?"_

" _Auusstiiiinnnn," I whined. "You've been planning this the entire week! I think I've waited long enough."_

 _He laughed. "You'll see soon enough."_

 _I groaned and slid down in my seat. Austin looked over at my disgruntled face as we came to a red light. He turned in his seat and took my face in his hands. "You can't be mad at me tonight, Alls."_

" _Watch me," I shot back, jokingly glaring at him. His lips tilted up at the corners and he leaned down and firmly pressed his mouth against mine, taking me by surprise. We pulled apart abruptly when a horn honked behind us. My face turned red as Austin laughed and started driving again._

 _Finally, we came to a stop in an empty parking lot. "What is this place?" I questioned._

 _Austin ignored my question and handed me a blindfold. "Put these on."_

" _Seriously? A blindfold?"_

" _Yes. Now hurry up."_

 _I looked at him for a moment before finally giving in and tying the cloth around my head. I heard Austin get out of the car and close his door behind him before coming around to help me out. He took my hand, guiding me to wherever he had planned._

 _After stumbling over my feet for the eighteenth time I started whining once again. "Austin! We've been walking forever and this blindfold isn't helping!"_

 _He chuckled. "We're almost there. I promise. Just a few more feet." He put his arms around my waist to steady me and started walking._

 _Finally we stopped and Austin untied the blindfold. To say the sight in front of me was pretty is like saying a hurricane is a little bit of rain. We were standing a few feet away from the edge of a cliff. At my feet was a large checkered picnic blanket illuminated by fairy lights that set up on the sides. Plush cushions were placed on one end of the blanket and a wooden basket was in the middle. Beyond the cliff I could hear waves crashing against rocks. The sky was lit up by thousands of stars, some brighter than others._

 _Austin wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder. "Remember when you said your ideal date was a nighttime picnic?" I turned my body towards him and left a soft, lingering kiss on his lips._

" _Thank you," I said pulling away. "It's perfect. But you didn't need to do all this for me."_

" _Yes, I did," he said pulling me down to sit on the blanket. "You do so much for me. I think it's about time I return the favor." I smiled at him, knowing that I would cry if I said anything. "Let's dig in shall we? It's your favorite." Austin pulled out pastas, salads, bread, and pretty much everything that was right in the world of food._

" _It all looks so good," I squealed. "But just one thing…um…not that I'm not appreciative of all this but did you by any chance bring-"_

" _Pickles?" He pulled out the glass jar from the basket. I squealed throwing my arms around him._

" _Austin Moon. You are officially the most amazing human on this planet."_

" _Tell me something I don't know, Ally." I rolled my eyes playfully and sat down. I stuffed one of the juicy pieces of heaven into my mouth, moaning at how good it tasted. I looked up to see Austin staring at me weirdly. Was that lust? No, I'm being crazy. This is Austin. He wouldn't openly show his attraction…would he?_

" _Austin?" I questioned. "Are you okay?"_

 _His eyes widened and he shook his head. "Oh uhhh, yeah I'm good. Perfect, actually. Let's eat." He coughed to clear his throat. I couldn't help but smirk. It was too funny to see Austin flustered._

" _Yeah, let's."_

 _After feasting on Austin's surprisingly amazing cooking skills, we laid silently on the blanket looking up at the stars, my head resting on his shoulder. One of my favorite things about our relationship was that we didn't need to talk the entire time. As long as we both knew the other was there we were fine. That is until one of us, usually me, broke the silence._

" _Apparently Trish and Jace are getting back together."_

" _Yeah?"_

" _Yeah. She told me over lunch today."_

" _And what do you think about it?"_

" _I think it's great. Trish had a hard time this year; she deserves time with someone that makes her happy." I sighed happily. "Kind of like how I feel when I'm with you."_

 _Austin turns to look at me. "I love you so much Alls." He kissed me. Hard._

I'll skip the details. So yeah it happened. It was great and pretty much everything I already said. We were always careful. I mean it worked for about a year.

You can probably tell where this is going.

One night after a stressful say at work Austin decided to help me "relax" a little bit. Yeah, after that night I don't think I ever relaxed again.

 _I sat on the bathroom floor and stared at the stick in front of me. It read positive. I didn't even need the stick to know really. I guess there was a little part of me that maybe thought it wouldn't be true. I should be scared. Is it bad that I'm not?_

 _I just sat for who knows how long. I didn't hear the doorbell ring until Trish actually walked into the bathroom in my new apartment. "Ally! There you are! I rang the doorbell like four times. I thought we had lunch pla-" She cut herself off seeing that I didn't say anything, let alone move from the sound of her voice. "Ally? Are you okay? What are you doing?"_

 _I picked up the stick and showed it to her, not moving off my place from the floor. Her eyes widened. "Oh." She cleared her throat and sat down next to me. "Ally-"_

 _I cut her off. "What should I tell Austin?"_

" _What?"_

" _I don't know what to tell him. He's the father. So what do I tell him?"_

 _She looked at me for a moment. "Ally, I think you need to backup for a minute. Are you sure you're even pregnant? I mean it could be a false positive."_

 _I scoffed. "Of course I'm sure Trish. I'm three weeks late and that flu I had last week? That was morning sickness."_

" _You should still see a doctor. That's the only way you'll know for sure."_

" _Alright, fine. What do I tell Austin after the doctor confirms it?" I looked at Trish and when she didn't say anything I continued. "Do I tell him that he's going to be a father before he's even married? Or should I tell him that he has to half ass his career if he wants to help me take care of this baby? Please tell me Trish."_

 _I wasn't even aware of the tears rolling down my cheeks until Trish handed me a box of tissues._

" _I think you're underestimating him Al. This is Austin. I've known his since I was three. He would drop everything and anything to help you with this baby even if it meant sacrificing his career."_

" _I can't let him do that Trish," I choked out. "It's too much to ask."_

" _I don't think he's going to give you a choice. He'll be there no matter what you say."_

 _I thought for a minute. "Not if he doesn't know."_

" _What do you mean?" Trish asked confused._

" _I mean I'm not going to tell him. It's the only way to save him and save his career. Let's face it. If he had a baby before he was ready he would never be happy. I can't let that happen."_

" _Whoa, whoa, whoa. Ally. Calm down and think for a hot second. How are you not going to tell him? I think he'll realize when your stomach blows up to the size of a beach ball."_

 _I glared at her. "I know that," I snapped. "I'm saying that I leave before he finds out. And before my family finds out. They'd probably disown me when they find out anyway." I broke into another set of sobs. "I'm hurting everybody. First, Austin, now my family. I'm disappointing everyone I care about."_

 _Trish put her arm around me comfortingly. "They won't hate you, Ally. Your family, Austin, they all love you. No matter what happens they love you." She rubbed my back waiting for my sobs to subside. "Leaving isn't the answer."_

 _I sniffled and looked up at her. "Yes, it is. It's the only way I don't have to face them."_

" _Ally," she said sternly. "The moment you leave is the moment you become selfish. I'm sorry if that's harsh but Austin deserves to know about this baby and you can't abandon your family without telling them where you are. It's not fair to them. Think about Beth."_

" _Of course I've thought about them Trish." I wiped away stray tears. "They're all I ever think about. But now they're not the only ones that matter."_

" _Then who else are you thinking about Ally, please tell me."_

" _My baby." Trish gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm carrying my child right now and it's my job to protect him or her. I can't bring someone into a world where all they'll see is judgment. That's what's not fair."_

" _But letting your child growing up without them knowing their father or grandparents?"_

" _I'll figure it out when I get to that point. But right now what I need is for you to help me."_

 _Trish looked at me and then at the floor and then back at me. I gave her questioning and pleading eyes. She sighed and nodded hesitantly. "Tell me what you need."_

 _I cried and hugged her. "Thank you so much. I'm so sorry."_

" _Shh, it's okay. I'm here for you. Let's go figure out what we need to do, okay?" She gave me an encouraging smile and took my hand to walk me to the living room._

After sitting down with Trish for the entire afternoon I finally decided what needed to happen. I cried over it for hours because I hated what was about to happen. Thank god for Trish.

 _Step 1: Break up with Austin._

 _I rang the apartment doorbell and rubbed my hands up and down my arms to calm my nerves. I had been dodging his calls since the afternoon before when I found out. It was the next day, it was already dark, and Trish was waiting for me downstairs in her car. Moral support, I guess._

 _Austin opened the door a few seconds later looking surprised to see me. "Hey Alls. What are you doing here so late? Not that I'm not happy to see you."_

 _I walked in as he shut the door behind me. "I uh just wanted to drop by." And the lying begins._

 _He chuckled. "Oh okay." He bent down to kiss me but I turned before I could. "Ally? What's wrong?" He questioned following me into his living room._

" _We need to talk Austin."_

" _Okay, about what?" He asked leaning against the wall._

" _Can we um sit down please?"_

 _Confused, he sat down next to me. "Ally, what's going on? You're scaring me."_

" _Austin, I-" I cut myself off feeling my eyes swell up with tears. He looked at me concerned._

" _Come on, Alls. It's me. You can tell me anything."_

 _I swallowed the lump and looked up at him. For the baby. "I think we need to go on a break."_

 _He froze. "W-what?"_

" _I'm so sorry. This is just something that I really need to."_

 _Austin sat there stunned. He opened his mouth to say something but shut it as quickly as he had opened it. Finally he said something. "I uh, um, Ally…why? Did I do something wrong?"_

" _Oh, Austin. Of course you didn't. This isn't you at all. It's just something-I don't know how to explain this to you. Please just try to understand," I plead._

" _I can't."_

 _I looked at him surprised. "What?"_

" _I can't," he repeated more firmly. "You can't just end this Ally. Not after 5 years of everything going great and then not giving me a reason." He reached for my hand and grabbed it softly. "I love you," he said more gently. Gahhh, Austin...why must you make me melt. "Please tell me whatever it is bothering you and I can fix it." If only he knew that he couldn't._

 _I gave him a sad smile and cupped his cheek. "You're so sweet." He closed his eyes and relaxed into my hand. "But this is something you can't fix. I need to do it myself."_

 _His eyes shot open in alarm. "Ally, don't do this. Talk to me, please." A tear escaped my eye before I got up to leave. He grabbed my hand just as I was about to leave, holding me in place._

" _I have to go Aus," I whispered freeing my hand from his grasp. Forcing myself I walked out and shut the door to his apartment._

 _Step 2: Leave._

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **L.B.: I tried to clear up some misconceptions from the last chapter. I hope it isn't going too fast but I'm trying to progress the story as much as possible so we can get to the actual juicy part lol. Thanks for your review!**

 **Again, sorry for the long wait but I'll try to update faster next time. Please leave a review, follow, or favorite. Until next time my friends.**

 **Feedback is always great**


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